Don’t just listen to your customers, support them
Why every customer support ticket is an opportunity.
Founders often say, "Talking to customers is my top priority." But just as often, they ask, "How soon can I hand off customer support?"
One of the most valuable lessons I learned at SimpleTexting—where I stayed deeply involved in support even as we scaled beyond 10,000 customers—is that staying connected to your customers isn’t just a task to offload. It’s a strategic advantage.
Here’s why.
Support is everything in the early days
In the early days, customer support isn’t just about fixing issues—it is your entire customer operation.
When we first started, every interaction with customers went through support. These conversations weren’t just about troubleshooting; they were our guiding star, shaping how we built not only our product but our entire customer-facing team.
I’ll never forget the moment we knew we needed a dedicated onboarding team. It wasn’t prompted by hitting some milestone from a startup playbook.
It came directly from support. We noticed a pattern—customers who struggled in the first week were more likely to churn, while those who got extra attention during onboarding became our strongest advocates. This insight, born from hands-on support, defined how we built out our customer organization.
Do live support if you can
Early on, we made a decision that set us apart from competitors: offering live support during business hours. While others hid behind ticket systems with days-long response times, we were there, ready to help in real-time. It wasn't always easy, but the impact was immediate and lasting.
Live support became a competitive advantage in three key ways:
Real-time problem solving created magical moments for customers. When chat wasn't enough, we'd jump on a quick call, consistently surprising and delighting users with our responsiveness.
While competitors made customers wait days or weeks, we solved problems in minutes. This responsiveness regularly won us customers who came to us frustrated with their current provider's support.
Every live conversation provided immediate insight into customer needs and pain points. Plus, having live chat on our marketing site kept potential customers engaged longer—a nice bonus for our SEO.
One particular conversation stands out. A customer came to us frustrated after waiting two weeks for a response from a competitor.
Within minutes, we not only solved their immediate problem but also showed them how our platform could better serve their needs. They became a customer that afternoon and remained one for years. This wasn't an isolated incident—it became a winning formula.
Scaling without losing touch
At some point, most companies get so big that it’s pretty typical that they get a little detached, that it’s someone else’s job to listen to customers. That it’s not the founder's role anymore.
This is where Brian Chesky felt Airbnb got it wrong:
“As we went on this hyper growth rocket ship from 2009 to 2019, over the 10 year period, I think we got further and further removed from the customer. We went from us talking to customers, to hiring people to talk to customers, to people who manage people who manage people who talk to customers.”
Once we crossed 10,000 customers, staying plugged into support took a deliberate effort. I wasn’t handling every ticket, but I kept a regular support shift on my calendar. This wasn’t about busywork; it gave me a direct line to what customers were experiencing—something I’d never get from a dashboard alone.
Make better product decisions
Customers take time out of their day to tell us what’s not working or what could be better, and that’s a gift—one that no amount of metrics or market research can replicate. But in an ideal world, they wouldn’t need to reach out at all.
Every support ticket is a signal that something in the product or experience could be smoother, more intuitive, or more aligned with user expectations. This is why you can’t simply “out-hire” a poor product experience. Adding more people to handle tickets may provide short-term relief, but it’s not a sustainable fix.
Support is often seen as a cost to minimize, but in reality, it’s a goldmine of insights. Every interaction reveals something about your customer’s journey and offers an opportunity to refine and perfect your product.
It’s through listening—and more importantly, acting on that feedback—that you turn support from a reactive function into a proactive driver of product improvement. When support is viewed as integral to product development, you can see the difference: growth metrics climb, while support tickets gradually decline.
In other words, you’ll know you’re getting it right when your product does the heavy lifting, and customer inquiries become less about issues and more about exploring the potential of what you’ve built.
Looking forward
Even today, I advocate for founders to stay connected to support. The tools and scale might change, but the principle remains: your time in support isn't a cost—it's an investment in understanding your market at a level no market research can match.
Remember, in the early days, support is your company. As you grow, it remains a crucial source of insights and competitive advantage. Don't be too quick to delegate it entirely—stay involved, stay connected, and watch how it transforms your business.
Your customers are trying to tell you something. Are you listening?